Two & Two
by Shasta627
Summary: After Barry makes a comment on how he doesn't think Caitlin and Cisco can handle babysitting his kids, Caitlin vows to prove him wrong. [One-shot. Killervibe]


_**Written for Killervibe Week! Enjoy :)**_

* * *

Barry Allen straightened his tie in the hallway mirror for what must've been the fifth time since she had arrived, anxiously tugging on the ends and smoothing the fabric out with the palm of his hand. "And you're sure you'll remember everything? Like what food to give them? And when to put them to bed?"

Caitlin Snow sighed for what must've been the fifth time as she rolled her eyes and refrained from banging her head against the wall. "Barry, it's fine. Cisco and I have watched the twins before, y'know. _We'll be fine_!"

"Yeah, but, the last time you guys babysat was when they were barely one year old. They're two now - they're pretty wild!" He tugged on his tie again, only creating another crease for him to straighten out. "It might be too hard for you guys. Maybe we should've called someone else..."

Caitlin narrowed her eyes, offended at his backhanded comment. "Like I said, we can handle it. Now go and have a fun night with Iris, and _stop! worrying!_ "

Barry looked almost reluctant to leave, but after straightening his tie once more, he finally said, "Alright, alright, we're going..."

Five minutes later Barry and Iris left the house and an exasperated Caitlin behind. She would've never pegged Barry to be the one so tense and anxious when it came to his children, but then again, Barry had always been a family man, and marriage only seemed to enhance that characteristic.

It also enhanced his overprotectiveness. Cisco and her could handle the kids, despite what Barry thought. Ever since she had found her balance between Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost, Caitlin discovered she had developed a stubborn streak, which is why she silently vowed to make sure everything would go as planned, so she could prove Barry's misgivings wrong. Her and Cisco delt with metas on a daily basis; how hard could watching children be?

After locking the door, she wandered into the living room to find the twins - Don and Dawn - sitting on the floor with Cisco. There were large Lego towers and action figures littering the ground, plus some Disney movie playing on the TV, being ignored in favor of the toys. Caitlin leaned against the door frame and quietly observed the scene before her.

The twins seemed to be off in their own worlds, mesmerized by the sea of toys surrounding them. The two kids were very adorable, in her opinion, with their dark brown hair, creamy skin, and large eyes, but Caitlin found her attention drawn more to Cisco, who was currently taking part in some imaginary game Don was playing with a Green Arrow action figure and a Rapunzel doll.

Ever since she had returned nearly four years ago, she found herself strangely attached to Cisco. At first she wasn't sure why she always felt so drawn to him, but figured it must've had something to do with how he never gave up on her. He had shown compassion and loyalty towards her during some of the hardest times of her life, and it was then that she realized he was her anchor, the only thing that kept her rooted to who she truly was. But just recently he became more than just her anchor; he was also the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

The change in their relationship happened slowly. When Caitlin came back, she noticed how her feelings towards Cisco were different, but figured it was just because she had changed as a person. But then they began to grow stronger, and Caitlin could no longer deny that her feelings were just platonic anymore. It scared her, but what had scared her even more was when Cisco had nearly been crushed by a truck tossed by an out of control meta, and almost died. After that stressful night she had finally confessed to him, telling him that he was more than a friend and that she couldn't live without him, and that she had to tell him before it was too late. She had expected Cisco to reject her, or at least give her the let's-just-be-friends talk, but all he did was gather her in his arms and hug her tight. The next day Cisco had walked up to her and said he was willing to try a relationship, if that's what she wanted, and the rest was history. They'd been dating for nine months now, and Caitlin had never felt so relaxed and happy in a long, long time.

She never wanted to be separated from him again, and it was because of this reason that her and Cisco did nearly everything together, like, for example, babysitting Barry and Iris's kids that evening.

Caitlin finally moved from her position by the doorway just as Don began stealing legos from his sister's tower.

"Hey, hey, why're you taking her toys?" Cisco asked, Oliver Queen still in his hand.

"Cause 'punzel needs a castle, so she can rule the world!" Don cried animatedly. Overhearing her brother, Dawn began trying to shield her Lego tower protectively.

Caitlin put a hand on the little boy's shoulder. "Maybe if you ask nicely, you guys can share?" She turned to look at Dawn, but it was clear from the girl's expression her brother wasn't getting a single brick.

The twins, both upset at the prospect of not getting what they wanted, began crying, or in Don's case, slapping Rapunzel repeatedly on the coffee table.

Caitlin looked at Cisco, eyebrows raised. She hated to admit it, but Barry might've been right - this could be harder than they thought.

 _No_! Caitlin told herself. _We'll prove him wrong - we can handle it_.

Thankfully, at that moment Cisco quickly asked, "How about some dinner?" before their behavior escalated into a full blown tantrum. The idea of food calmed the kids down a little, and they nodded.

Suddenly Dawn jumped to her feet, all trace of tears gone, and began shouting, "Ice cream! Let's eat ice cream!"

Caitlin had barely begun to shake her head 'no' before Don took up the chant too, until they were both screaming, "Ice cream! Ice cream for dinner!" cheerfully.

"You can have ice cream _after_ dinner," Caitlin compromised. "Your parents left good, _healthy_ food for you guys to eat."

"Ice cream can be healthy," Cisco countered, but then said, "...actually it's not," after he caught sight of Caitlin's withering stare.

The twins seemed happy to comply, however, and ran into the kitchen to eat. Cisco and Caitlin followed, and as Caitlin began setting the table Cisco scoured the Allens' fridge.

"Well, let's see...we got some yogurt, leftover apple pie, bacon, whip cream - sounds like a meal to me!"

"You can't eat whipped cream on bacon!" Don laughed, while Dawn reminded them all again, "Ice cream for dessert!"

Caitlin glared at Cisco. "You're not serious, right?"

"Not entirely," was all Cisco said. He then turned around to see her still glaring at him and smirked. "C'mon, Cait. It's okay to joke around, y'know."

Caitlin didn't say anything, and continued to set the table. If they let the kids eat bacon and whip cream for dinner, Barry would never trust them to babysit again!

Unfortunately, after the twins had those two atrocious food choices stuck in their minds, it was a lot harder to get them to eat the apples, cheese, and jam toast Caitlin found in the fridge and prepared. By the end of dinner she felt like she had gained at least ten white hairs from the stress of trying to make everything perfect, although her hair was already white, so no one would've noticed anyway. Glancing at the clock, she repressed a large groan. It was only six o'clock - Barry and Iris wouldn't be home until eleven. Five more hours to go...

 _You can do this_ , Caitlin motivated herself. _Prove Barry wrong, remember? Plus, you have Cisco's help. It'll be easy_.

After cleaning off the table, Caitlin found Cisco with the two kids once again in the living room, and stifled a gasp. In just the five minutes Caitlin hadn't been in the room, the twins had managed to take everything off of the bookshelves and display it on the floor, adding to the mess of toys already on the ground from before dinner.

"Look at this picture!" Dawn held up a picture frame towards Cisco. "You're in it, 'isco!"

Cisco took the picture and scrutinized it, proceeding to make comments such as 'do you see your father's hair? Crazy, I tell you' and 'I'm pretty sure I was asleep when they took that picture.' Both the kids would giggle at his words, and bring him more objects from the collection on the floor to comment on.

The scene was endearing, and Caitlin would've smiled except for _the large mess on the floor!_

"We need to clean this up," Caitlin said, already picking up some books near her feet.

"They will - later. They're playing, Cait," said Cisco.

"Can't they play with the toys already on the floor? And not breakable objects?" She picked up a glass vase off the carpet to prove her point.

"But this is fun!" Don whined. His sister nodded her head to agree. Their begging eyes implored her to let them continue, and for a moment she was tempted to give in. But then she thought of a picture frame breaking or a book being torn, and her resolve hardened. "I'm sorry, but we need to clean this up. Your parents wouldn't be happy if something from their bookshelves broke."

"Aww, you're no fun," Dawn huffed, crossing her little arms and frowning. "I hate boring people."

The statement shouldn't have stung as much as it did. Dawn was only two, she wasn't accustomed to sensitivity yet. But that only seemed to make the words worse. Two year olds were blunt and honest, which told Caitlin that the twins really did think she was boring, and most likely didn't care for her. The thought crushed her.

"Use nice words," Cisco chided the little girl, and then looked to Caitlin. He obviously realized something was wrong, for he got up and came to stand right in front of her. He put a hand on her shoulder, and the warmth of it sank through her blouse and seemed to call her back to reality.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly. "You've been kinda off all evening."

Caitlin quickly nodded. "It's fine."

Cisco, however, didn't look convinced. He turned back to the twins and asked them to clean up, and they grudgingly complied. Caitlin tried not to be jealous that the kids obeyed him but not her.

Cisco then pulled her into the kitchen and raised his eyebrows. "Alright. Spill."

Crossing her arms, Caitlin shook her head again. "Like I said, it's nothing."

" 'Nothing' doesn't make you freeze up - metaphorically, of course - and make you look like Christmas has just been cancelled."

Caitlin frowned, and then sighed. It was no use trying to hide anything from Cisco - he knew her too well. "It started with Barry...," she said. "He was stressed about leaving the twins, and he basically said he didn't think we could handle babysitting them, and that he should've called someone more qualified, I guess."

Cisco gave a hollow laugh. "Barry can be such an idiot sometimes. Let me guess, you had to prove him wrong?"

Caitlin pursed her lips and nodded. "His comment irritated me so much that I've been trying to make everything perfect all evening, so that Barry would know that we _are_ capable of watching his children, and that he can trust us with his kids. But so far all that's gotten me is hate from the twins."

"They don't hate you!" Cisco exclaimed. "They're just frustrated. Their parents leave for the night and their cool not-really-aunt-and-uncle-but-close-enough come over, and they're thrilled. But you're trying to be just like their parents, so they're disappointed. It's not like Barry and Iris left at all - it's not as exciting."

"And did they just _tell_ you all of this?" Caitlin asked skeptically.

"Don't you remember how it was being a kid? And how exciting it was when we got to go to our grandparents' house or stay with that really cool relative that we love? I guarantee you that's how the twins feel about us, so they don't hate you. You're doing everything right, just like Barry and Iris would, but the twins don't expect that behavior from you. We can still discipline them, but we have to do it creatively, and also have a bit of fun while doing it. We need to do things Barry and Iris normally wouldn't, so that we stick out in their minds and they don't think that all adults are like their parents. You just gotta let loose a little and have...controlled fun!"

Caitlin was impressed, but couldn't help but point out, "You realize they're two. It's hardly likely that they're thinking all of this."

"But they are, subconsciously, and when they get older they'll be able to think it better."

Mulling over his words in her mind, Caitlin had to admit that he was right. She was trying too hard to be just like Barry and Iris. She needed to be creative, and as Cisco said, have 'controlled fun.'

That phrase brought her to her next question. "What's your idea of 'controlled fun'?"

Before Cisco could answer, however, the twins came running into the kitchen shouting at one another.

"He pushed me!" Dawn cried.

"She took the book from me!" Don wailed.

They continued tattling on each other until Caitlin finally put her hands on both of their shoulders. "Okay, guys. Let's try this another way: how about we all go back to the living room to clean up, and then we can...build a pillow fort!" It seemed like a good idea to Caitlin. The twins could decimate the living room like they wanted, but it would be safe because cushions and pillows couldn't break.

The two kids liked the idea too. "We can build a castle!" shouted Dawn as she ran back to the adjacent room, her brother trailing behind her. Caitlin was about to follow when she felt Cisco's hand squeeze hers. "They love you," he assured her, and then drew close and kissed her forehead. "And I do too."

Caitlin smiled widely, and leaned forward to kiss him, hoping that her actions could convey to him how thankful she was that he was in her life.

When they drew back, Cisco tugged on her hand and led her to the living room. "C'mon, let's have some 'controlled fun' and build this fort!"

* * *

Barry Allen unlocked the door to the house and gave a dramatic bow to his wife. "After you, my love," he said regally.

"Why, thank you!" Iris responded, flashing him a loving smile as she walked through the doorway. Their night had been perfect, with good food, wine, and dancing, plus the company of each other. Barry had calmed down considerably about leaving the twins after Iris reprimanded him for being silly, and as he followed his wife into the house he knew she was right.

The sight that greeted them was heartwarming, to say the least. Caitlin, Cisco, and the twins were all gathered on the floor, surrounded by numerous pillows, cushions, and blankets strewn above their heads. They were all bathed in blue light from the TV, which was currently playing Beauty and the Beast, and they were all fast asleep. Caitlin's head was resting on Cisco's shoulder and his head was on top of hers, and both Don and Dawn were fast asleep in the adults' laps, curled up on Caitlin and Cisco's chests respectively.

"Should we wake them?" Iris whispered.

Barry shook his head. "No, they're all content where they are. We'll leave them be till they wake up."

Iris nodded and left to change, but Barry stood still, observing the scene. Caitlin was right all along - her and Cisco could handle watching the kids, no matter how temperamental they could be. He should've trusted them from the start.

Smiling to himself, Barry finally left and headed toward his bedroom, already planning another date night with Iris. Caitlin and Cisco seemed to be really good with the kids, maybe they wouldn't mind watching them again next weekend too...


End file.
